Posted by Dele Aderibigbe on
Geniuses are rare. Tessy Eneji reports on a young man who is adjudged to be the brightest student in West Africa.
Geniuses are rare. Tessy Eneji reports on a young man who is adjudged to be the brightest student in West Africa.
HE is unassuming, with the look of a typical home- boy. Except for his good looks and good-natured smile, nothing about Odaro Anthony Omusi appears extraordinary.
But when you draw close and engage him in conversation, you will discover he has an irresistible charm that can keep you glued to him for hours - and then you begin to discern, from his responses to your questions, an exceptional intelligence that makes you to, involuntarily, form the picture of Isaac Newton or even Albert Einstein in the inner recesses of your subconscious mind.
Eighteen-year-old Odaro in 2005, made the country remarkably proud. Through hardwork and determination, he single handedly raised the profile of the nation's educational sector and thereby restored the nation's dignity by his resounding success when he made A1 in all of the nine subjects he sat for in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination thus becoming the best 2005 student in the whole of English speaking West Africa where the examination is being conducted.
Odaro Omusi performed this feat at the highly rated Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. He is due for award by the examination body during a ceremony slated for March 13 in Abuja.
According to his father, WAEC has written to the family that young Odaro is the overall best student in the 2005 examination in the entire english-speaking West Africa.
How did he feel when the news first broke out? Hear him 'Initially, I was in a daze. I was pleasantly surprised. But naturally, this feeling soon gave way to a feeling of elation and joy".
Odaro Omusi was also adjudged the best student in Common Entrance Examination in 1999 and the best overall graduating student of Grace Children School, Gbagada, Lagos that same year.
Now a student of Electrical/Electronics Engineering of the University of Lagos, he also came first at the post - JAMB examination in the whole of his department.
On the secret of his strings of firsts and successes, Odaro enthused 'I can't really place my finger on it. Except that I study hard and do not give room to distractions". When prodded further, he added 'I think one thing I have going for me is the ability to easily grasp what I am taught by my teachers".
Odaro's ability for easy comprehension could have been responsible for his dexterity to, as many of his teachers have testified, understand the more complex and complicated questions and proffer answers to them more than the simpler ones.
Amidst the torrents of commendations and eulogies poured on him, Odaro does not lose sight of the contributions of the hardworking and dedicated teachers in the schools he attended: Grace Children School and the Loyola Jesuit College. Of the teachers in Loyola Jesuit College, he said they are the students' best friends.
While noting that a lot of efforts go into the task of educating the students of the college, he pointed out that the school is based on a number of ideals and curricula that are very rewarding.
Of note, according to the highly cerebral student, is the weekly review session where the teacher sits with the students in an informal setting to do a review of the week. During these fora, students are opportuned to open up and bare their minds on sundry issues and even bottled up emotions, that constitute hindrances to their performance which could be a hostile fellow student or even a teacher. And attempts are made by the school to resolve all such highlighted problems.
Odaro said further that he also benefited immensely from the personal/social education curriculum of the school which teaches the students social skills and how to become good citizens and human beings. He is of the view that the various tests, assignments, and class exercises that are added up to judge students' performance are such that give room for a fair assessment of the students.
Odaro Omusi's success story is incomplete without reference to his loving parents, Mr. & Mrs. Felix Omusi. In fact, Odaro's intelligent mind is traceable to a genetic trait that runs in the family.
Felix Omusi, Odaro's father bagged a distinction in 1973 WAEC examination at Edo College, Benin City. Given his extraordinary performance, Mr. Omusi got quite a number of scholarship awards to study at the university. But rather than study the traditional science based courses, the older Omusi opted for a less glamorous industrial chemistry.
But due to his versatility, he later ventured into environment protection studies. Today, he is the Managing Consultant of Socon Consulting International, an outfit with concerns in manufacturing, outsourcing technical personnel recruitment and training located at 5, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos.
However, unlike his father, his strongest motivator, Odaro has chosen to take up one of the traditional science based courses. 'I'd always had a passion for engineering. I love to do practical things' Odaro remarked.
The third child in a family of four children, Odaro, a sports lover, holds a brown belt in martial arts. He also plays soccer, handball and basketball. His hobbies include playing video games, and reading novels with bias for espionage, martial arts, adventure and investigation.